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I opened my mouth then snapped it shut because heat rushed in, and I was pretty sure my face caught on fire. “I’ll talk to you guys later.”
Then I slid into the car and got it started. Coop snickered as I pulled out.
“What?” I asked him.
“You went from dating no one to datingeveryone,” he said, grinning. “It’s cute.”
Everyone? “It’s… weird.”
“Yeah? What’s so weird about it?”
“We’ve been friends for years.”
“That’s not weird,” Coop pointed out. “That’s a perk. You already know that Archie can be controlling, Jake demanding and overprotective, and Bubba’s basically a golden retriever.”
“Coop.”
“What? It’s true. Not sure about Frenchy, but, eh. But our guys? I know our guys.” Did he not include himself in that?
How did I ask him…?
“Besides, if I know you’re out with one of them, and I’m not there, I know you’re okay. Frenchy, not so much. I like knowing you’re safe. I like you happy, too.” Then he sighed, “Course, getting time on your calendar is going to be hard, but I reserve the right to pull the best friend card and stake out some time of my own.”
Laughing, I said, “Last night didn’t work out too well for that.”
“Nope, but since they crashed my date, I plan to totally crash one of theirs. You just have to let me know when they’re going to be there. Or, you know, I can just be at your place regularly.”
I groaned. “Coop…”
“What?” he asked as I pulled into a parking spot at the apartments. “Think I didn’t want a shot at dating you, too? Don’t be silly, Frankie. I’m in.”
He was out of the car and talking to Bubba before those words totally sank in. He wanted to date me? I rescued my roses from Coop who grinned as he hooked the backpack off my shoulder. “I’ll hang onto this for you.”
Though I needed to feed the cats, I almost didn’t want to leave them alone. There was something odd in the air around them. And I still could get Coop’s comment out of my head. He wanted a shot at dating me? Even though I hurried, it still took me a few minutes. When I got back out there, Bubba and Coop were in the middle of a fierce, if very quiet, debate? Conversation?
I slowed as I approached, trying to give them time to sort out their argument, but they broke off when Bubba spotted me. “You ready?”
“Yep.” I glanced from one to the other. “You guys okay?”
“Sure,” Coop said. “We just had to work out some details for the thing.”
“The thing?”
“The thing,” Bubba confirmed. “At the place.”
“With the people,” Coop tacked on.
“Yeah…” I shook my head. “Whatever.” After sliding my backpack on, I accepted the helmet from Bubba. Excitement threaded through me. Bubba climbed on the bike and I slid on behind him.
“Hey, Frankie?” Coop said and Bubba straightened as we both glanced at him. “I know you’re busy this weekend, but next Saturday? Go out with me?”
He was asking me out, right in front of Bubba. It was already kind of awkward with Jake and Archie seemed to be turning our study dates into date dates, too.
“You sure?”
“Am I sure that I want to take you out?” He raised his brows. “Only since kindergarten. You and me, c’mon… it’ll be fun.”
That was usually my line, but I wanted to say yes. “All right, a week from Saturday.”
